Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell separator, a fuel cell, and a fuel cell battery.
Background Art
Conventionally, there has been suggested and in practical use a fuel cell battery having a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) formed by providing catalyst layers for electrodes on both sides of an electrolyte membrane and a separator for pinching the MEA. In the fuel cell battery system including the fuel cell battery, fuel gas is supplied to one (anode electrode) of the electrodes constituting the MEA of the fuel cell battery and oxidation gas is supplied to the other electrode (cathode electrode) to cause an electrochemical reaction, thereby generating electricity. Nowadays, there is employed a technique of generating large electric power by providing a stack formed by stacking a plurality of fuel cells each having a single MEA.
The separator constituting the fuel cell battery is a plate-like member including a gas flow path provided on a surface opposed to the MEA and a manifold for use in circulating reaction gas (fuel gas or oxidation gas) from the outside to the gas flow path. The separator has a function of preventing a short circuit caused by contact between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode of adjacent fuel cells in a state where the stacked fuel cells are separated from each other and a function of allowing the adjacent cells to have electrical continuity to each other. At present, there is suggested a technique of providing a plurality of projecting portions in a region between a power generation section provided in the central region of the separator and manifolds provided in a region close to the outer periphery of the separator (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).